Learning How to Love
by Tenshi no Haru-Kaze
Summary: Very sappy RenHoro HoroRen fic! with lot's of fluff too.... HoroHoro finds Ren sitting alone one Funbari hill, so he decides to join him... Warning: very OOC Ren, and I mean VERY. Shonen ai.


DISCLAIMER- I wish I owned Shaman King.. . . . .  
  
And if you can't guess, HoroHoro's POV ------ ----- ------ ------- ------ ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- --- --- ------ ------ ------  
  
What is love? What does it mean when someone says you can't really love anyone with our loving yourself first?  
  
I never knew the answer to that question, not really, until something, or should I say someone, came along and showed me.  
  
First though, I should properly introduce myself. My name is HoroHoro from the northern Ainu tribe.  
  
Though I may act immature sometimes, and I often like to joke around a lot, of my group of friends, I am the oldest, with the exception of Faust and Ryu.  
  
Like most of my people, I have blue hair, although I always wear mine in a bandana around my forehead, almost making it stick strait up.  
  
The Ainu tribe is very proud Mother Nature being our greatest gift, and where we are one with the earth.  
  
We, The Ainu are very proud of our heritage, and that is why when a certain somebody called me "Baka Ainu", I got very angry, and it ended up with the two of us in a fist fight.  
  
The name of the person who said that? Tao Ren. I'm not saying his name in hate though, no, it's quite the opposite of what you think.  
  
The first time I met him, he was so damn arrogant! Just because he came from a big family line in China, tied Yoh in a battle, and could almost match Manta in wealth, didn't mean that he had to pick on poor me!  
  
Did I also mention, that drinks too much milk too? Ren always tells everyone that he drinks three glasses a day, but once, I caught him drink double that!  
  
No one noticed though, they were all busy doing their own things. Even though he is their friend, I can tell out of that batch, he is the loner.  
  
Every time I try to say something civil to him though, he'll snap at me, and it ended with the two of us fighting and someone breaking us up.  
  
Things changed though, one cool, fall dusk, I found Ren sitting up alone on Funbari Hill. That day was a picture sunset, the sun slowly descending down below the tombstones, and leaving behind a painted array of reds, oranges, yellows and pinks in the sky.  
  
I don't remember what I was doing, or even why I happened to be there, I just know it was the best choice I would ever make, sitting down beside him.  
  
I was very nervous; of course, you would be too if you were sitting beside your secret crush.  
  
"Hey," I sat down on the cool grass beside him, but he didn't answer.  
  
It was some time later, when he finally said something, "I'm slowly dying."  
  
Of course to me, I had no idea whatsoever he was talking about, and it didn't make sense. "Excuse me?" I asked.  
  
"I'm slowly dying," He repeated himself.  
  
"What do you mean?" I turned and looked at him.  
  
"Just that." He answered back, still looking forward at the sunset and not moving at all, I wonder if he knows who's sitting beside him, "without anyone or any of it, I'm slowly dying."  
  
"I still don't know what "it" is," I reminded him.  
  
"Love," the wind ruffled his hair, "There is no love in me, no one ever loved me, no one loves me, and I have not loved anyone, in that sense, my soul is slowly dying."  
  
We sat there in silence for a long time. At that time, I was just learning the other side of Ren, the side that was insightful and cared about more than becoming the Shaman King.  
  
"You're no alone, you know." I said, trying to make things better.  
  
"Oh?" he turned towards me and raised an eyebrow, "then who is with me? Definitely not you."  
  
"I am," I stared strait at him.  
  
But he waved his hand dismissively, "You? Yeah right, I don't even think Yoh really accepts me, but you?" and then he started laughing.  
  
He wasn't laughing at me though, or an I'm-going-to-take-over-the-world type of laugh, I would be able to tell because I've heard those way too much. This was sad sounding, and just by his eyes, I can see that he is also laughing at himself. He doesn't even love himself.  
  
"Stop." I commanded, putting my hand on his shoulder, "You really have to learn to accept yourself, you know."  
  
His laugh turned into a sad sounding sigh, and he opened up his mouth to say something, but once he saw how dead serious my face was, decided against whatever he was going to say.  
  
"But in truth, you don't love me." He whispered, so audible that I could barely hear him.  
  
"No, not really, not until you accept that fact that I do, and love yourself as well."  
  
He stopped and stared at me, before doing something that I never would have thought of him doing. Tao Ren, the stuck-up shaman who was even stronger than me, broke down and cried into my shoulder.  
  
It was unexpected, of course, and I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I hugged him, patted him on the back, and soothed him with comforting words.  
  
He reminded me of a little kid, sitting there in his mothers' arms, crying. Of course, I wasn't his mother, but I love him just as much, sometimes even more.  
  
"HoroHoro?" he looked up at me.  
  
"hn?" I answered back.  
  
'w-will you always be there for me?" he asked shakily, between sniffles.  
  
"Why wouldn't I?"  
  
"Just wanted to make sure."  
  
We sat there like that in silence for a long time, him on my lap. Until slowly, his face inched closer to mine, and he kissed me lightly on the lips.  
  
It was very short and chaste, no harm done, but afterwards, he looked worried about something, typical.  
  
"I-I'm sorry.." he stuttered, standing up to leave, and pinkish hue already starting to paint his cheeks.  
  
I grabbed his arm before he could actually leave, "don't be, I've been waiting forever for this, don't turn around and leave me already."  
  
Sighing in defeat, he turned around and sat down again, snuggling into my lap.  
  
We stayed like that for a long time, just sitting there on Funbari Hill and watching the sun sink away behind the horizon, even long after the stars had come out, we were still there.  
  
"HoroHoro?" he looked up at me again, "Aishiteru," he whispered into my ear.  
  
I then realized that up to that moment, my soul was also dying. When I had saved Ren, I also taught myself how to truly love.  
  
Of course, that was back before that crazy Tao family thing with his dad, but since that, I know almost everything about him.  
  
I know that he has many different smiles, one that almost looks like a smirk whenever he's battling someone, one for when he's hiding something, one for when he's truly happy, and one, reserved just for me.  
  
When we were trying to defeat his dad and he told everyone to leave and not help him because it was too dangerous, I could tell his eyes were looking at me, and pleading me to leave so I wouldn't get injured.  
  
And also that day that he had practically died protecting me, I really couldn't help but to protect him in return, it was just the fair thing to do.  
  
At that time, no one knew about our relationship, except maybe Yoh, so everyone else was very confused. I just shrugged it off and said he was my friend, and friends help each other out. Even though it was a very tense situation, I could still feel that somehow, they didn't believe me, but they must have just let it go.  
  
I'm so glad Faust managed to get him living again.  
  
Now of course after the whole Shaman King thing is over, everyone knows that we're together. Palika was so shocked the first time I told her, if I remember correctly, she actually ended up fainting!  
  
I'm taller than him of course, but I guess that's really not important. Even with his shortness, his Furyioku can still over-power mine in battle....most of the time.  
  
Sometimes we fight, but that can always be easily looked over afterwards.  
  
He never did lose that snobbish attitude, but I still love him anyhow. I can't change anything about that or do I ever plan to, after all, he is Tao Ren.  
  
----- ----- ------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------- ------ ----- - ------  
  
How was the story everyone, if I ever get time, I might do a partner to this one in Ren's POV, only if I get enough reviews!!  
  
And for those of you who complained, I changed Monument Hill To Funbari Hill. .... Sorry for the mix-up.s 


End file.
